


Hidden Heroes

by poisonouswalrus



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Angst, F/F, Wonder Woman AU, i love them so much i would die for them, slowburn, when i say slowburn i mean SLOW burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-12
Updated: 2018-01-15
Packaged: 2018-10-31 01:53:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10889304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poisonouswalrus/pseuds/poisonouswalrus
Summary: The alarm goes off. Five in the morning. She isn’t usually one to press snooze and lay in bed, but then again, she doesn’t usually wake up with a long gash on the side of her body.Or the Wonder Woman AU based off of a prompt by traskutisflawless on tumblr





	1. Chapter 1

She hears footsteps approaching, heavy with determination and malintent. It’s past midnight and the facility is long deserted, save for a lone security guard isolated at the top of the hill, quietly snoring in his chair. The black-clad vigilante keeps a watchful eye, expecting her targets to appear any minute.

 

Suddenly, there’s a clatter as the garage entrance to the lab creaks open. Two masked men are carefully surveying the area, dressed in Lord Technologies uniforms. They’re strangely out of place as they shuffle into the darkened warehouse. They enter cautiously, with their backs to the interior, weapons drawn and ready for anyone that may spring on them from the shadows outside.

 

“I don’t believe you have an appointment.” she snarls from inside, staring at the backs of the intruders, welcoming them with crossed arms and a steely glare.

 

The robbers pivot and square up, facing the sound of the voice, but unable to see her in the darkness of the warehouse. She quickly pounces from the shadows, her indomitable grip clasping around the throat of one of the men, lifting him violently off the ground while he coughs, grasping for release.

 

“Who the hell are you?” the other yells, his voice muffled under his mask, as he charges forward, his knife brandished and gleaming.

 

The dark haired hero grins before throwing the first burglar clear across the room, his body crashing through wood beams and metal tables with a reverberating clatter. She turns and lowers her shoulder just slightly as the second burglar comes charging, sending him flying in the opposite direction, his back hitting the middle of a bookshelf, sending the entire thing to the floor with a thunderous roar.

 

She speeds after the first guy, dipping and dodging as he throws punches erratically. She lands a shot directly to his jaw, sending blood pouring from his mouth almost immediately. She hears the second guy stirring behind her and knows she has to be quick before he makes a counterattack.

 

Surprisingly, the first attacker slowly gets to his feet. He swings and manages to land a stiff kick to her abdomen, sending her slightly backwards. She regains her composure and manages to land a strong kick to his stomach, causing him to bend over in pain. She firmly centers her elbow over the back of his head and hits him, rendering him unconscious.

 

Just as her final blow lands, the second attacker thrust his knife out from behind her with enough force to send it plunging deep into her side. She growls in agony, the blade penetrating the muscles between her ribs, causing a searing, white-hot pain throughout her entire body. She wrenches herself away from his grip, but manages to keep the knife in place. She uses all of her strength to knock him face first into a waiting wooden table. He slides to the ground unconscious as she limps away, bloody but victorious.

 

There’s a phone on the desk in the corner and she immediately dials 911. Within minutes, the place is surrounded by the police and the woman with super-human strength waits in the shadows, taking in shallow breaths, watching the aftermath.

 

 

* * *

 

 

_The room is cold, too cold. Lena feels a needle slide into her arm. The liquid pushes inside her body and warms her up. The room doesn’t feel so cold anymore. It starts to feel hotter and hotter. Suddenly, it gets too hot. There’s a fire in her veins, a burning pain too intense for her to handle. She screams and screams, but nobody helps her, nobody cares._

 

Lena wakes with a start and immediately winces in pain. Her sheets are soaked in cold sweat as usual, but her throat is no longer raw like was at the beginning. She’s learned how to hold in the screams a long time ago. Lena lays in the darkness, trying to regulate her breathing and slow down her heart rate. She takes a deep breath, ignoring the sharp pain on her side.

 

The alarm goes off. Five in the morning. She isn’t usually one to press snooze and lay in bed, but then again, she doesn’t usually wake up with a long gash on the side of her body.

 

She draws in a sharp breath as she tries to get up, her side throbbing along to her alarm. Lena turns off the alarm and sits on the edge of her bed, waiting for the world to stop spinning. Once everything is properly motionless, she places her feet firmly on the floor. Lena gets up slowly, leaning on the bedside table for support. Her head spins again and she has to fight the urge to throw up. She grabs her phone and takes a step. When her vision starts to darken, she decides she would be better off focusing on her feet as she makes her way to the bathroom, one step at a time.

 

By the time she gets to the bathroom, she feels as if she’s run across the country. Lena sets her phone down and grips the sink as she tries to catch her breath. She hates getting stabbed. It turns into quite the ordeal, her body demanding round the clock care and refueling to keep up with the rapid demand of her supercharged healing ability.

 

Once her breathing is back to normal, she turns on the faucet and splashes her face with cold water. Lena wipes off and looks in the mirror. She looks like a ghost. She takes a step back and lifts up her shirt to reveal the wound. The cut doesn’t look as bad as it did last night. The skin surrounding the wound is slightly purple and the gash itself is almost completely healed on the surface. But Lena knows that a stab wound that deep will take at least a day to fully heal. A day of pain and overeating. A day of missing work and having to play catch up on her laptop in bed.

 

Lena groans and picks up her phone. She goes to her favorites and dials one of two numbers on the screen. The phone is answered almost as soon as the first ring ends.

 

“Miss Luthor. Would you like me to pick up your usual from Noonan’s on my way to Luthor Corp?”

 

Lena cringes at the name of the company. Her company. She pauses. It isn’t too late. She could still go to work. Maybe she is just being overdramatic. The cut would heal eventually, after all. She shifts and her vision swims again. She sighs. “No, thank you, Jess. Actually, I’m calling because I feel a bit under the weather today.”

 

There’s a pause on the other end of the line. This is the first time since she inherited the company that she’s called in sick.

 

“Do you need me to drive you to a hospital, Miss Luthor?” Jess sounds worried.

 

“I’ll be fine, I just need to rest up a little. Would you mind rescheduling my appointments and forward my conference calls to my cellphone?”

 

“Consider it done, Miss Luthor. Will you be able to make it to the Venture’s launch today?”

 

Lena curses internally. She had forgotten about the Venture. Being on the spacecraft was supposed to bring some good press to the company. She looks at her wound again. “Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll be up to it. Luthor Corp will just have to find positive media attention some other way.” The name of the company feels wrong in her mouth, tainted.

 

“Of course. Will that be all, Miss Luthor?”

 

Suddenly, an idea comes to her. “One more thing, actually.” She starts to work some quick logistics in her mind. “Can you make arrangements for a renaming ceremony?”

 

“A renaming ceremony?” Jess sounds genuinely curious.

 

“I want to change the name of the company. Luthor Corp was at one point at the forefront of technology, of changing the world for the better. In recent years, Luthor Corp has fallen a considerably large amount in terms of popularity and in turn investors. I want to bring the company back to its former glory, if not better. What better way to do that than to change its name?” Lena was starting to get excited. Renaming the company would be just the start in changing the company itself. It would be the start of her separating herself from her family’s name and maybe, just maybe, from her the prejudice that came along with the Luthor name.

 

“Yes, ma’am, I will get on that as soon as possible,” Jess agrees.

 

* * *

 

 

The next day, Lena is pouring over all the data she has regarding the Venture. More specifically, the part that malfunctioned. The part created by Luthor Corp. She’s gone over the notes and lab reports dozens of times. All the tests were positive. She had triple checked the tests herself. The oscillator failing made no sense. She looks at the blueprint for the spacecraft. Maybe the oscillator was blocked by another part of the spacecraft. With a chill, she realizes that the oscillator exploded right next to the seat reserved for her. To anybody else, that may seem like a huge coincidence. But she isn’t just anybody. She is a Luthor, after all. Sabotage is the only explanation as to why the oscillator exploded. Somebody is trying to kill her.

 

Lena files that information away for later because given that she was the only one who didn’t show up to the launch, given that her company has made the part that supposedly malfunctioned, given that she is a Luthor, she knows that the cops will be coming into question her soon. She copies all the information she has regarding the oscillator onto several flash drives, just in case.

 

Her office phone rings on the secure company line. It must be Jess. She picks up the phone. “Yes?”

 

“Miss Luthor,” Jess says as a way of greeting. “There are two reporters here who would like to speak with you about the Venture.”

 

Lena rubs her temple and sighs. How were reporters faster than cops? “Let them in, I suppose.” She hangs up the phone, shuffles the papers strewn across her desk into a neat pile, and closes her laptop. She stands up, walks around to the front side of her desk and leans against it.

 

The door opens and she looks at the man striding into her office. “Clark Kent.” She says, shock and venom coloring her voice. She remembers Lex talking about him almost incessantly back when she was in college. He was Lex’s best friend, up until Lex got himself arrested. She had hoped to have Kent around when everything went to hell. Lex’s best friend would understand what she was going through, right? Except he was nowhere to be found during the arrest. A couple of weeks later, he reappeared, with a scathing article about his supposed best friend.

 

Out of the corner of her eye, she notices the other reporter pause right next to Kent, standing next to him too close to be casual colleagues. She seems to realize how close she stood and shifts a little away from Kent. The reporter stands up a little straighter and focuses her attention on her. Lena wonders idly if Lois Lane was out of the picture.

 

“Lena.” He nods.

 

“You’re here about the Venture.”

 

Kent nods again. “I was doing some research about the explosion and found out a few interesting details. You were scheduled to be on the spacecraft, but mysteriously cancelled at the last minute.”

 

Because she was at home recovering from a stab wound. “I had some business to attend regarding a ceremony I’m holding tomorrow.” Lena debates telling him about the renaming ceremony, about wanting to change the company, about wanting to change what people thought of her. She decides she has nothing to lose. “I’m renaming my family’s company.”

 

Kent raises his eyebrows. “Lucky.”

 

Lena scoffs. “Lucky was Superman saving the day.” She eyes him, trying to gauge his reaction to her words. Lex had plenty of notes connecting Clark Kent with Superman, plenty of occasions when Clark Kent disappeared only to have Superman reappear in his place. Lex never said it outright in his notes, but there was enough evidence for Lena to have an idea of what Clark Kent did in his free time.

 

“And Supergirl was there too!” Interjects a voice next to Kent.

 

For the first time, Lena focuses on the second reporter. Her breath catches. The reporter is stunning, yet looks vaguely familiar. Lena notices that the shade of the reporter’s eyes is a deep ocean blue that sparkles in the light, almost exactly the same color as Kent’s. She decides right then and there that that specific shade of blue is her favorite color. Lena walks over to a table nearby and pours herself a glass of water.

 

“And who are you, exactly?” She asks, but what she means is, _are you single?_

 

The blonde reporter pushes her glasses up her nose. “Um,” she looks down for a split second before remembering herself and looking back up. “Kara Danvers. I’m not with the Daily Planet, I’m with CatCo Magazine. Sort of.” She fidgets with her notepad. Lena raises an eyebrow and glances at Kent. He’s looking at her like Lex used to look at her whenever she used to beat him at chess. Proud.

 

_Are they family?_

 

“That’s a publication not known for its hard-hitting journalism.” She starts to walk towards her desk and smirks at Kara. “More like high-waisted jeans, yes or no?” Lena’s heart is beating rapidly and she can’t stop staring at those eyes. Those perfect blue eyes.

 

“Um, I’m just, uh, tagging along today.” She nods to herself, as if reassuring herself that she’s telling the truth. Lena holds back a small laugh. Kara is adorable.

 

Kent turns his gaze back on Lena and his eyes harden.

 

“Right.” She stops herself from rolling her eyes. She knows why Kent is really here. “Can we just we speed this interview along? Just ask me what you want to ask, Mr. Kent. Did I have anything to do with the Venture explosion?”

 

“Did you?” He asks.

 

She looks up at him. She tries to ignore the beautiful woman standing next to him, the one who may or may not be related to Kent. She can’t afford to be distracted right now. She knows why Kent’s first step to getting his scoop is to question Lex Luthor’s sister. “You wouldn’t be asking me if my last name was Smith.” She glares.

 

He smirks at her. “Oh, but it’s not. It’s Luthor.”

 

Kara looks at him, shocked at his bluntness. Not that Lena notices. Lena doesn’t care how the reporter feels about Kent’s attitude or what types of movies she likes or what her lips feel like. Lena doesn’t care at all.

 

She snaps her attention back to Kent. “I see there’s some steel under that Kansas wheat. My name wasn’t always Luthor.” She looks at Kara, noticing an adorable scar above her left eyebrow. She suddenly cares what the reporter thinks of her. “I was adopted when I was four.” Kara’s expression indicates that this is new information to her. “The person who made me feel most welcome in the family was Lex….he made me proud to be a Luthor.”

 

Lena remembers Lex helping her control her strength, remembers confiding in Lex whenever a new ability popped up, remembers the way he encouraged her and helped her through Lillian’s moods. She remembers what it felt like to feel him slipping away. She swallows and turns her chair to the window. “And then he went on his reign of terror in Metropolis and declared war on Superman. Committed unspeakable crimes. When Superman put Lex in jail, I vowed to take back my family’s company.”

 

Lena turns her attention back to Kara. Kara’s face is full of compassion. “I’m going to rename it L-Corp. Make it a force for good.”

 

Kara and Kent look at each other. Kent clearly does not believe her, but Kara looks unsure. “I’m just a woman trying to make a name for herself outside of her family.” Lena says. “Do you understand that?”

 

This time, Kara looks at her with understanding. “Yeah, I do,” she says. Her voice is strong and firm. Lena believes that she truly does understand and wants to desperately know more about her. But at her words, Kent frowns and looks slightly insulted. His troubled reaction makes it seem like Kara is referring to him. So they _are_ family. And if Lex is to be believed, and Clark Kent is Superman...

 

Lena clears her throat. “I know the other reason you came here. A subsidiary of my company made the part that exploded on the Venture.” She hands Kent a flash drive. “This drive has all the information we have on the oscillator. I hope this helps you in your investigation.”

 

“Thank you,” Kent says, surprised.

 

“Give me a chance, Mr. Kent,” _Give me a chance, Kara._ “I’m here for a fresh start; let me have one.”

 

He gives her a tight-lipped smile. “Have a good day, Miss Luthor.” He turns and leaves.

 

Kara nods. “Good day,” she hesitates, as if she wants to say something else, but she pushes her glasses up, gives her a small, but genuine smile, and follows the other reporter out the door.

 

An icy chill replaces the spot where the reporters had vacated, leaving Lena alone in her office, staring at the door. Lena opens her laptop and pulls up a file detailing notes on her most recent project. If she works through the night, she may be able to finish it in time for the ceremony tomorrow.

 

“Jess?” Lena calls out. Her assistant walks inside the office, notepad in hand, ready to jot down whatever Lena needs.

 

“Yes, Miss Luthor?”

 

“I know we agreed to make the ceremony indoors, but the weather is supposed to be very nice tomorrow. Is there any way to move it outside instead?”

 

Jess frowns at her. “It would be no problem, but an outside ceremony decreases the security and possibly your safety.”

 

Lena smiles reassuringly. She knows the risk. She’s counting on the risk. “I’ll be fine, Jess.”

 

“Yes, Miss Luthor.” She writes down a couple of notes. “Is there anything else?”

 

Lena shakes her head. “That will be all. Thank you.” She should give Jess a raise.

 

Jess nods as she turns to leave. When the door closes, Lena looks over her notes again. There’s only a few details left to work out. Maybe this time she should get something that wouldn’t get punctured as easily as her outfit did last night. She shifts uneasily, remembering the pain of the knife sliding into her body. She should definitely get something a little sturdier.

 

She closes her laptop and takes it with her as she gets up to leave. Lena walks out of her office and Jess looks up at the sound of the door closing behind her. “Go home early, Jess. I’ll be working late tonight.” Lena presses the elevator button.

 

Jess nods, but they both know she’ll stay almost as long as Lena will. Lena steps into the elevator, pushes the button to go down into her lab, and smiles at Jess as the doors close.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special shoutout to sten06 for helping me with details, concepts, editing and even helping me with the title!! If you haven't read any of their fics, what are you doing with your life? 
> 
> Comments are much appreciated
> 
> Go bug me on tumblr @drowningisthefirststeptodying


	2. Chapter 2

Lena groans in frustration as she throws a piece of dented metal at the wall hard enough that it goes a good two feet into the plaster. She wants to destroy the useless scraps of metal spread across the table. She has looked over her calculations dozens of times. Making the gauntlets bulletproof was no problem, but making them strong enough to withstand her strength? Nearly impossible. No matter which type of metal she uses, no matter how many compound cations she creates and embeds in the metal, the end result is the same.

 

She crumples another piece of metal as easily as anyone else might crumple up a sheet of paper and is about to throw it when she hears footsteps behind her. Lena stands up straight and frantically tries to straighten out her lab coat while simultaneously fixing her ponytail. _A Luthor must always look presentable and collected,_ Lillian’s voice resonates in her mind.

 

She turns and lets out a sigh of relief when she sees who it is. “Jess. To what do I owe the pleasure?” Lena allows herself to relax a little.

 

“You’ve been down here for three hours, Miss Luthor. I figured you could use a coffee.” She extends a rather large styrofoam cup towards her.

 

Lena accepts it gratefully. She takes small sips, knowing her metabolism would limit the effects of the caffeine to about an hour and wanting to make the most of the cup. Then, something hits her. “Three hours?”

 

Jess nods. “I thought I told you to go home early.” Lena admonishes.

 

Her assistant is too busy examining the hole in the wall with a burning curiosity behind her eyes to respond. She walks closer to the Lena’s worktable. “Is there anything I can help you with, Miss Luthor?” She eyes Lena’s notes.

 

Lena’s first reaction is to tell her no, tell Jess that she needs to go home. But Lena has been stuck for three hours and the coffee isn’t affecting her fast enough. She could feel the fatigue starting to cloud her thoughts. It wouldn’t hurt to have another MIT graduate look over her calculations. “Sure, can you look over these? I can’t seem to get this right.” She hands Jess her notes.

 

Jess takes the papers and looks over them, her eyes scanning Lena’s messy handwriting at a surprisingly fast rate. She looks confused at first, but then her eyes get a determined look and she nods to herself before looking up at Lena. “How much force do the gauntlets need to withstand?”

 

“At least 600 meganewtons,” Lena says carefully, studying Jess’s reaction.

 

Jess raises an eyebrow but otherwise doesn’t comment on why they need to withstand so much force. “According to your notes, you keep trying to make the metal stronger, but it still breaks.”

 

Lena nods, frustrated. “I’ve tried combining different cations to create new elements and I’ve bonded those elements with the metal, but no matter what I do, it doesn’t work.”

 

Her assistant flips through the pages thoughtfully. “Maybe we shouldn’t try to make it stronger.”

 

“Jess, making it stronger is the whole point,” Lena frowns.

 

“No, it’s not,” Jess puts the papers on the table, each page spread out so that they can see all of Lena’s notes at once. “The whole point is to make the gauntlets resistant to the amount of force applied, not necessarily make them stronger. You see how on this suit,” she points to another page. “Is it a suit?” She pauses, waits for Lena to nod before continuing. “On this suit, you made the material strong, yet flexible. It can withstand a lot, probably some wear and tear from a force similar to the one that will be applied to the gauntlets. I’m assuming it’s bulletproof as well.”

 

Lena starts to catch on. “So instead of making the gauntlets stronger and firmer..”

 

“Make them adaptive to the forces applied,” Jess finishes.

 

Lena grins at her, excited that she has a new direction to go in.

 

The grin fades as a memory floats up to the surface.

 

* * *

 

 

_Lena walks into the lab, two coffees in hand. She knows he’s here. She learned her work ethic from him, after all._

 

_She finds him hunched over a table, using a soldering iron on a circuit board attached to a piece of metal that looked suspiciously like a glove. He straightens up and puts the soldering iron on a cooling rack. He waits a couple of seconds for it to cool then presses a button on the inside of the glove looking at the fingertips in anticipation. When nothing happens, he lets out a frustrated yell and throws the metal glove, hitting a rack of spare parts, causing objects to tumble to the floor._

 

_“Lex,” she calls._

 

_He looks up at her and she almost takes a step back when she sees the desperate, maniac look in his eyes. She swallows and holds up a coffee cup as a peace offering._

 

_The angry fire in his eyes subsides a little as he reaches for the cup. “Thank you, Lee.”_

 

_She smiles, recognizing her big brother again. “What are you working on?”_

 

_He pauses, his eyes guarded as if debating whether or not to tell her. The thought of Lex hiding something from her rips her heart in two. She trusts him with her life, her secrets. To think he doesn’t do the same is unbearable._

 

_Lex must see something in Lena’s expression because his eyes soften again. “I’m building a super suit.”_

 

_Lena is intrigued. “A super suit? For what?”_

 

_“Well, Superman isn’t going to be around forever. Plus, can we really trust an alien to protect humans? What if one day he’s forced to choose?”_

 

_“He’s done a lot for us.” Lena frowns._

 

_Lex’s expression darkens. “Would you choose to save a bunch of aliens or us? To him, we are the aliens. He could turn on us as easy as the tabloids turn on their favorite celebrities. We can’t trust people with powers like his.”_

 

_Lena stiffens, knowing her powers rivaled Superman’s. Judging by the suddenly wary look he gives her, he is thinking of her powers as well. Lena clears her throat and looks towards his notes. “Can I help?”_

 

_Lex nods curtly, the wary look never leaving his face. He walks over to where he threw the glove, making sure to give Lena a wide berth, as if she would hurt him if he steps too close. Her heart aches. Lex picks up the metal glove and turns it over in his hands, examining it. “This glove is supposed to shoot out concentrated energy beams out of the fingertips. But I can’t get them to work. I looked over my notes a hundred times. The circuit board should be in working condition.”_

 

_Lena steps over to the worktable, where Lex’s notes are strewn all over the place. She scans through the designs. The suit is going to be big and bulky, but it would be powerful, Lena could see that easily. She sees notes about how to maximize the force behind a punch, how much thrust would be needed to get both the suit and the user off the ground, she even sees a section with messy, rushed notes about a force field surrounding the suit. Lena gets an uneasy feeling looking through the designs. This looks more like Lex is preparing for war than anything else._

 

_She shoves those feelings down and shifts the papers around until she finds the sheet with the glove designs and the energy beams that should come out of it. She reads through the notes for the gloves carefully, trying to get into Lex’s head. Everything seems like it should work perfectly fine. Lena grabs the sheet about the energy beams. She frowns as she reads through the notes._

 

_“Lex, what is this element?” She asks, tracing through some of the numbers with her finger. “It looks similar to element 36, but its properties...I’ve never seen anything like this before.” She looks up at him and starts, not expecting him to be less than a foot away from her._

 

_He has that look in his eyes again. A power-hungry look. But the curve of his mouth, the excited way he fidgets with his fingers, everything else about him reminds her of the days they spent together in the basement lab at the Luthor Mansion back when she first moved in with them. The way he would patiently explain what all the different equipment did. She feels nostalgic and he looks enough like a young Lex that she’s able to ignore the look in his eyes._

 

_“It’s a synthetic substance I made that mimics a rare ion of element 36. It’s called Kryptonite.” He sounds so excited, so earnest, that Lena can’t help but feel excited with him._

 

_She looks over the notes again. “The gloves are perfect. There’s nothing wrong with them.”_

 

_Lex makes an agitated noise. “If they’re so perfect then why-”_

 

_Lena holds a finger up, cutting off his sentence. “The problem is with this element, Kryptonite. You charged the electrons in a way that makes the element too unstable to heat up properly into a focused energy beam. Instead of adding three electrons every time you introduce an ion, add just one.”_

 

_Lex grins at her, excited. “It’s not always about more power, Lex. Sometimes you have to take things in moderation.” She says._

 

_But he’s already hunched over the table again, looking through a microscope._

 

 _She should have known_.

 

* * *

 

 

Lena clears her throat and shakes the memory off, starting to stack up the papers.

 

“Wait,” Jess says.

 

Lena looks at her expectantly. Jess grabs another sheet of notes. “What’s up with the headband?” She asks sheepishly.

 

Now it’s Lena’s turn to be embarrassed. “I thought it would look cool,” she says defensively.

 

Jess raises an eyebrow. “So it has no functional purpose?”

 

Lena shrugs noncommittally while putting away the papers. She clears the table, pulls out some more metal, and gets to work. Jess stands awkwardly to the side, unsure of herself. Lena knows the look on Jess’s face all too well. After becoming CEO, she rarely had time to go down into the lab, rarely had time to tinker and experiment. She imagines that after becoming her assistant, Jess hasn’t had time to go down to the labs either and, with a degree in engineering from MIT, Lena knows Jess is dying to help her.

 

“Well?” Lena asks with a smirk. “Are you just going to stand there or are you going to help me?”

 

* * *

 

 

Lena arrives at the location of her renaming ceremony in her town car, her stomach in knots. She’s never done this before, never come out and shown her powers in public like this before. Jess is sitting next to her, wearing a headset and checking things off of a sheet on her clipboard. She’s talking to Lena, but Lena isn’t paying attention, too nervous about what she’s about to do.

 

She shifts uneasily in the seat, the suit underneath her clothes making her feel bulky. She fidgets with her bag. All the things that could go wrong flash through her head, making her feel sick.

 

“Miss Luthor?” A voice says.

 

Lena snaps back to the reality and looks at Jess. “Yes?”

 

Jess has concern etched all over her face. “If anything happens, you are to run underneath the stage. The guards will be able to protect you better if they don’t have to worry about where you are.”

 

Lena resists rolling her eyes. She knows Jess is merely looking out for her. It’s not Jess’s fault that she doesn’t know Lena can take care of herself, but the idea of having to rely on humans without powers to protect her is laughable.

 

So she nods.

 

Jess seems satisfied with her response. “You can do this,” she says with such determination and feeling behind her words that Lena momentarily wonders if she knew more than she was letting on. She quickly banishes the thought.

 

Lena opens the door and steps out of the car. Almost immediately, she hears a voice call out, “Miss Luthor!”

 

“Sorry, if you’re from the press, you have to wait until Miss Luthor’s speech, just like everyone else.” Jess says curtly.

 

Lena turns and sees a flash of blonde hair and a set of worried eyes. “Ms. Danvers,” she greets. Jess looks exasperated. The adrenaline and nerves make Lena feel brazen. “Here for an exclusive?” She raises an eyebrow suggestively, acting confident, all the while her heart is practically beating out of her chest.

 

The reporter stops a few feet away from her, stuttering. “Hi, uh, yes, wait no. No. You need to postpone the ceremony.” She seems to regain her footing and stands up a little straighter. “You need to reschedule.” She says with more confidence.

 

The sunlight is hitting Kara’s determined face in a way that Lena could only describe as angelic. _Stop getting distracted by a pretty face_ , Lena scolds herself. “Why is that?” She asks Kara.

 

“Your life is in danger.” She says simply.

 

Lena stills. All she can feel is her heart going a million miles per hour. Jess has frozen as well, a stricken look on her face. “Why do you think so?” She asks carefully, trying to figure out how much Kara knows.

 

“The flash drive you gave us. The oscillator was sabotaged. It exploded right where you were supposed to be sitting. Someone was trying to kill you.”

 

Lena nods. “Thank you for telling me, Kara, but I have to do this. This is the first step, can’t you see?” When Kara tilts her head, Lena continues. “This is the first step to coming out from underneath my family’s shadow.”

 

Kara looks like she’s about to argue, but then thinks better of it. “Okay,” she says understandingly.

 

“Miss Luthor,” Jess reminds impatiently, eyeing Kara warily.

 

Lena smiles at Kara and she seems momentarily stunned. Lena follows Jess towards the stage, hesitating when she sees the size of the crowd. Kara looks at her with sympathy and understanding.

 

“My brother is serving 32 consecutive life sentences. Guess I shouldn’t be surprised there isn’t a bigger turnout,” she scoffs.

 

Kara is silent for a few moments, a crinkle appearing in between her eyebrows as she frowns. “You’re taking an awfully big risk, going ahead with the renaming ceremony with your life in danger.”

 

Lena thinks back to her plan, back to what revealing her powers will do, how it will change her life permanently, for better or for worse. She doesn’t know what to tell Kara. She decides to play it safe. “I won’t have a life if I can’t turn this company into something positive. All it will be remembered for is Lex’s madness.” _All I will be remembered for is Lex’s madness._

 

Kara’s eyes search her, having heard the heavy truth behind Lena’s words. Lena breaks eye contact and walks away from her, climbing up to the stage. She stands behind the podium, looking out into the crowd. Kara gives her an encouraging smile and she feels her heart calm just the tiniest bit. Lena takes a deep breath.

 

“I want to thank you all for coming,” she starts. “My brother hurt a lot of good, innocent people. My family owes a debt, not just to Metropolis, but to everyone.” She pauses, looks out at all the reporters. They all have the same unconvinced look mixed with slight disgust. All except one. One reporter with deep blue eyes and a proud, sunny smile. That look is all she needs to keep going. Looking into Kara’s eyes, she continues. “I intend to pay that debt. By renaming my company L-Corp, we will usher in a new era of cooperation and community.” Kara’s smile grows, infecting her. Lena smiles out onto the crowd. Knowing that Kara believes in her makes her feel confident. “Together, we will chart a brighter future.” She ends, proudly, looking out into the crowd. Several reporters were now looking like they believed her. She feels proud, almost forgetting the real reason she had the ceremony outside, almost forgetting the suit underneath her clothes.

 

A deafening explosion goes off behind her and she remembers why she's here. The crowd scrambles and she loses sight of Kara. She jumps off the stage, gliding gracefully underneath. The space underneath the stage is large enough for her to quickly rip off her clothes to reveal the suit underneath. She puts on her golden headband and clicks on her anklets and bracelets so that the metal expands until she’s wearing boots and gauntlets. The anklets and bracelets were Jess’s idea. _Nobody wears gauntlets and metal boots, Miss Luthor. We can use this technology to compress the items until they are needed,_ she had said. As Lena ran out from under the stage, boots shifting smoothly along with her movement, she decided that she was going to give Jess a really nice raise.

 

She gets out in time to see Supergirl flying towards her company building. It looks like the explosion hit the building’s one weakness. _Like the exhaust vent that leads to the reactor core on the death star,_ she thinks. She catches sight of Superman going to help his cousin with the building. She flies towards her collapsing building, quickly but low to the ground, trying to go by unnoticed, yet knowing it was unlikely that the crowd below would miss another person clad in red and blue that was not a Super.

 

Ruble is falling and hitting the streets all over the place. She hears a strangled yell. Turning, she sees a woman on the floor, being helped up by a man she recognizes from Metropolis. _Olsen_ , she remembers. The woman is pointing at the sky, where a piece of concrete was about to fall on them. Lena speeds towards the pair, getting there just in time to stand above them and catch the ruble with a small grunt. She sets down the concrete and leaves before Olsen could see her face. _Should have gotten a mask,_  she scolds herself. But then again, if aliens didn’t hide, why should she?

 

With that thought in mind, she flies up, high above the chaos, looking for the hitman sent to kill her. Everyone is running away from the explosion, the collapsing building. Everyone except two people.

 

She zooms in her vision to focus on scene. Down in the square, by the stairs, a woman is fighting with a man. She knows one of them is the assassin, but the man is wearing a cop’s uniform and the woman looks like an undercover federal agent and Lena doesn’t know who the bad one is. The man swings at the woman, but she dodges, punches him in the mouth, and kicks him in the stomach. He bends over and the woman reaches behind her to pull out her gun, but in that moment the man recovers and reaches over her, putting her in a chokehold. The woman raises her legs, swings them back downwards, using the momentum to flip the man over onto his backside, effectively escaping his grip. The guy stands up quickly while pulling out a knife, slashing at the woman. She dodges again, elbowing him, and throwing him on the floor. He lands close to the woman’s discarded gun.

 

The man stands up and, just as he aims the gun at the woman. Lena is starts to fly there, but Supergirl beats her to the punch. Any doubt Lena has over who the assassin is disappears as the man grabs the woman, holds the gun up to her head, and turns to Supergirl. A familiar crinkle appears on Supergirl’s face as she frowns. An idea pops into Lena’s head. She reaches up to take off her headband and throws it at the man, causing him to drop the gun. _Take that, Jess. The headband_   is _useful_. Lena lands on the ground and tackles the man, releasing the woman from his grip. She picks up the headband and puts it back on. “This one’s mine, Supergirl.” She calls out. She can’t help herself. She looks back at Kara and winks before grabbing a hold of the man’s shirt and flying away.

 

She hurries before either of the Supers decide to follow her. The man struggles against her, but he’s no match for her strength. Lena heads towards an empty warehouse she leased for the occasion. The warehouse is lined with lead. Lena knows neither Clark nor Kara will find her.

 

She releases the man. He’s bloodied from his fight. “Don’t try to escape. I’ll catch you before you take two steps.”

 

He looks at her in disgust and spits out some blood. “He was right, wasn’t he? You’re a freak.”

 

“Who was right? Who are you? Who sent you?”

 

The man laughs humorlessly. “Nice get up. You’re not sporting that obnoxious ‘S’ on your chest though, so there’s only one person you can be. Your brother sent me, Lena.”

 

Lena stiffens. She remembers Lex’s smiles, the way he always made her feel welcome. She thinks about his patience when he taught her chess and the way he would explain complex concepts to her until she would understand. Her brother, her confidante, her best friend. “You’re lying.”

 

He spits out blood again and grins at her, his teeth stained red. “Lex needed something from that research facility a couple of days ago. You became an obstacle, a threat. He wants to remove that threat.”

 

Lena remembers the look in his eyes after he became obsessed with Superman and his powers. After she helped him create his warsuit and he believed he could be a god. She remembers the sneer he gave her when she talked about her powers a couple of days before he went on his rampage. Betrayal and anger rips through her, just as fresh as when she found out Lex had gone on a murder spree.

 

The man gets up and charges at her, getting in a punch straight at her jaw before she kicks his legs out from underneath him so quickly he floats in midair before falling. Lena punches him gently enough to just knock him out, but hard enough he’ll feel it for a couple of days. She ponders about what to do with him. The temptation to take out her rage on him is strong, but she sighs and pulls out a burner phone from the inside of her left boot instead.

 

She calls the cops, tells them that a would-be assassin was tied up near 54th and main street, tells them to get there as quickly as possible. When she gets the confirmation that someone is on their way, she hangs up, crushes the phone in her hand, ties up the man with some rope she had left in the warehouse, and flies him to 54th and main street. She leaves just as the cops turn the corner.

 

Lena goes into autopilot mode, feeling numb.

 

_Lex._

 

She gets to her apartment, landing softly on the balcony.

 

Her big brother.

 

She opens the window and climbs in. She makes her way to the bathroom, looks at her reflection. Blue skirt, red top. Opposite schematics from the Supers.

 

Similar, yet different.

 

Three words that seemed to define her life.

 

She didn’t realize she was crying until she saw her reflection. Red-rimmed eyes and tears flowing freely down her cheeks.

 

He promised he would always be there for her.

 

She should have seen it, should have done something about his descent into madness. She remembers not wanting to see it. She remembers telling herself that his obsession wasn’t abnormal. She remembers telling herself her brother was still in there.

 

She needs to text Jess, make sure she made it home safely. She pulls out her phone and opens up her favorites. Two names stare back at her. She can’t bring herself to delete his name from her favorites, can’t bring herself to delete his contact from her phone.

 

But apparently he had no problem sending out a kill order on her.

 

More tears stream down her cheeks and she feels something inside her break.

 

_Lex. Lex. Lex. Lex._

 

Her brother, her confidante, her best friend.

 

She sends a quick text to Jess, making sure she’s okay, then she heads to bed.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lena's suit is based off of Wonder Woman's suit from the new 2017 movie. 
> 
> Shoutout to @sten06 for editing!! Go read their fics!!
> 
> Bug me on tumblr @drowningisthefirststeptodying


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I said I would update regularly and then I disappeared for a month. I'm sorry please don't hate me for disappearing. However, you are allowed to hate me for any angst I write. Enjoy!

_“You know, I remember when I first saw you.” Lex moves a black pawn to E-4. “Mother and Father didn’t know, but when I was about your age, I figured out how to break into their lab downstairs without alerting them.”_

 

_Lena moves her bishop to G-7. She listens to Lex’s story with rapt attention._

 

_“About a year later, I overheard them talking about something important that they were doing in the lab, so of course I had to go investigate. That’s when I found you.” He moves his knight to F-4._

 

_“I thought Lillian and Lionel adopted me when I was four,” she says, confused. She moves a pawn to B-6._

 

_Lex places his knight in front of her pawn, preventing the pawn from advancing any further. Lena loves playing chess with her older brother. Whereas most people would let a seven year old win on purpose, Lex never holds back.He treats her as an equal. “That’s what they told the press. But Mother told me that they rescued you when you were a year old. She said that you were incredibly sick, that they had to keep you in the lab for a couple of years for your own protection. They wanted to help you. She told me they did everything in their power to make you better, to make you stronger.”_

 

_Lena studies the board. She suddenly sees an opening and tries to hold back a smile. She moves her queen to C-8, and Lex smiles at her when she lets go of the piece. “I saw you and, despite having been in the lab for most of your life, you had this glow about you. An inner light. I talked to you and, even though you were three at the time, you seemed to understand everything I said. I would visit you a couple of times a week to tell you about my day. You always had that light, that intelligence behind your eyes.” Lex rubs his chin as he looks at the board. “Mother and Father still referred to you as ‘the child’ at that point. I was the one to suggest ‘Lena’.” He pauses and looks into her eyes. “Lena means light. You have an innate goodness in you, Lee. You will do great things someday.”_

 

_Lena sits up straighter, proud of his praise._

 

_She doesn’t realize her mistake until he moves his bishop to B-5. She freezes, scolding herself for not seeing it sooner. She’s stuck. If her queen takes his bishop, his knight would be free to move in on her king in two moves. If her queen takes his knight, his bishop will take her king in one move. If she doesn’t move her queen, his bishop will take it and then take her king._

 

_Lena’s hands clench on to the metal table in an attempt to hold in her frustration when they hear a loud crunching noise._

 

_Lena looks down and realizes she accidentally dented the table with just her hands. She looks up at Lex, her eyes wide in terror. His face is unreadable as his eyes study the deformed table. “Whatever they did to you to cure you made you stronger. Father says you’re special. Different.” He has a calculating look in his eyes when he looks back at her. “I guess we’ll see, huh?”_

 

_She glances at the small handprints pressed into the metal._

 

 _She doesn’t_ want _to be different._

 

* * *

 

Lena picks up the newest edition of the Daily Planet that she had asked Jess to buy for her. The headline reads “New Day for L-Corp”. She feels a surge of pride at her company’s new name and continues reading. The article right below the headline reads, “Can Lena Luthor usher in a new era for L-Corp?”. She scans the story looking for Kent’s trademark negativity when it comes to the Luthor name. She feels pleasantly surprised when she finds none. Maybe Kara had something to do with the almost positive review. She glances at the byline, searching for Kara’s name. Disappointment floods through her when she realizes Kara’s name is nowhere to be found.

 

She sets the paper down to pick up her office phone. “Jess, can you invite Mr. Kent from the Daily Planet and Ms. Danvers from CatCo Magazine over to my office?”

 

She can feel Jess’s hesitation coming from the receiver. “You only have half an hour before your conference with the investors from Central City.”

 

Lena smiles. “Something tells me they’ll be here quickly.”

 

“Yes, Ms. Luthor,” Jess says. “Anything else?”

 

“Actually, yes. Please contact Henry from the payroll department and tell him to come in after my conference so that we can talk about your raise.”

 

“My raise?” Jess's voice holds barely contained excitement.

 

“Of course. You deserve it.” Lena smiles.

 

“Will that be all, Ms. Luthor?”

 

“That will be all,” she affirms.

 

“Thank you, Ms. Luthor.” She hangs up the phone.

 

Lena picks up the newspaper again. Two more articles made the front page. The bottom right corner holds a medium sized article that reads “Devastating gas leak leads to explosion, injuring many”. It continues on to the next page, but Lena doesn’t bother reading it. She scoffs. A gas leak? They use the same excuse every time a bomb goes off.

 

The bottom left article is much smaller, only two short paragraphs in length. “Friend or foe? A new Super may be in town”. Lena raises an eyebrow and reads the article.

 

_Due to a nearby gas leak, a park in National City suffered an explosion during a local press conference. Supergirl and Superman were confirmed to be at the scene, however a few sources claim to have seen a third woman clad in the traditional blue and red Super colors flying around the park as well._

 

_If there is another Kryptonian out there, will she be another hero, set to help defend the earth from otherworldly threats? Or will she be a villain, effectively replacing Lex Luthor as Superman’s arch nemesis?_

 

Lena runs her hand through her hair, letting out a big sigh, the pride she felt renaming her company suddenly disappearing. Of course she would get tied in with her brother. They don’t even know who she is, yet they are still comparing her to the infamous Lex Luthor. What hope does she have of ever getting out from under her brother’s shadow?

 

She hears the door to her office open, followed by the sound of two strong Kryptonian heartbeats still beating rapidly from the exertion of flying to her building. She forces herself to focus on the main article and arranges her face into the classic Luthor smile that hides her true feelings. She sets down the paper. Clark Kent is standing across from her with Kara Danvers standing a few feet behind him, letting Kent take the lead.

 

Lena’s gaze inevitably gets drawn to the beautiful blonde. She can smell a faint floral smell coming from the reporter. Lena wonders what perfume she uses. Kara is staring back with such an intensity that Lena worries she recognizes her as the woman who took Corben. Lillian’s training is the only thing keeping Lena from fidgeting under Kara’s gaze. She looks away and makes eye contact with Kent.

 

“Thank you, Mr. Kent.” She gets up from her chair. “This is exactly the type of press my company needs after yesterday’s attack.” She walks to the front of the desk and stands in front of Kent.

 

Kent smiles. He’s still guarded, but seems less suspicious of her now. “Well, that’s not exactly why I wrote it. I wrote it because it’s the truth. I was wrong about you, Ms. Luthor. I’m sorry.”

 

Lena looks away to hide her shock. Clark Kent apologizing to a Luthor? Unheard of. “Well, if I can make a believer out of Clark Kent, there’s hope yet,” she jokes. She hears a chuckle coming from Kara. She feels her heart speed up as she turns to her. “What about you, Ms. Danvers?” Kara looks up at her from under her glasses. “I didn’t see your name in the byline.”

 

She can hear Kara’s heart race. “Well, like I said, I’m not a reporter.”

 

Lena smirks at her. “You could have fooled me.” She holds Kara’s eyes for a couple of seconds before Kara’s gaze falls to her lips. She doesn’t know whether the loud drumming is Kara’s heartbeat or her own. She doesn’t know whether it matters. Someone shifts next to Kara and Lena suddenly remembers Clark is still there. Lena turns to her desk, walking away from them with her heart still thundering in her chest. “I hope this isn’t the last time we talk.” She gives Kara a hopeful look.

 

Clark opens his mouth to answer, but Kara beats him to the punch. “I hope not either.” Kara gives her a huge, earnest smile and Lena swears the whole world stops. Clark closes his mouth, gives a tight lipped smile, and nods before turning and walking away. Kara holds Lena’s gaze for a few more seconds before following her cousin out.

 

The door closes behind them. Lena lets out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. If boarding school and college with Veronica Sinclair had taught her anything, it was that she’s a sucker for beautiful women. Nevertheless, the way Kara Danvers makes her feel is vastly different from what she felt for Veronica. Three meetings with Kara and Lena knows she’s doomed.

 

Jess walks into her office, looking down at the iPad in her hand. “Ms. Luthor, the investors from Central City are here. They’re waiting in conference room three on the tenth floor. I can pull up all your files onto the computer in the room or…” She trails off when she looks at Lena. “Are you okay?”

 

Lena wishes she could prevent the flush coloring her cheeks. Truth be told, she can’t stop thinking of those deep blue eyes. The way they bore into her, trying to look into her soul. She can’t help but think of the way Kara’s eyes flickered to her lips. Lena can’t stop imagining the sound Kara would make if she ran her tongue across Kara’s bottom lip.

 

“Ms. Luthor,” Jess says again, interrupting her thoughts.

 

“I’m paying attention,” she lies. “The investors are here, yes?”

 

Her assistant sighs knowingly. “It’s the reporter, isn’t it?”

 

“She’s not a reporter,” Lena corrects.

 

Jess looks like she could care less what Kara’s profession is. “Conference room three on the tenth floor, Ms. Luthor. I’ll pull up your files.”

 

“Thank you, Jess.”

 

* * *

 

Lena lets out a big sigh as she walks into the elevator after her fifth and final conference of the day. She sends Jess a note telling her to go home for the day, then presses the button to go down to the labs.

 

So far, only S.T.A.R Labs and Palmer Technologies have shown interest in buying stocks in her company. The other companies were more hesitant, not that she’s surprised. Whereas Luthor Corp had a tarnished reputation thanks to Lex, L-Corp has yet to prove itself to the world. The faster she comes up with a new product, the faster she can get L-Corp on the path to redemption. She debates repurposing one of Lex’s old projects, but she worries that using Lex’s ideas will cause her to follow in her brother’s footsteps.

 

The elevator doors open and she sees that a good number of employees are still in the lab, however, they’re all so absorbed in their work that nobody notices when Lena steps out of the elevator. She smiles. When she took over the company, she thoroughly vetted each and every employee, letting go of the ones that were in league with Lex. She ended up keeping less than a handful of employees in each department, and even less in research and development. She remembers doing thorough background checks on all applicants, reading all their research papers, and looking over all their prototypes and designs. She remembers each person she interviewed, remembers looking into their eyes and asking them questions. She hired people whose eyes lit up with excitement as they talked about their ideas and future projects. She hired people who wanted to make a difference in the world, people who were determined to do good.

 

As she looks at all the researchers hunched over desks, engrossed in their work, she knows she made the right choice with each and every one of them.

 

She tries to walk past without getting noticed, but fails miserably as her heels echo throughout the room, cutting through the low noise of the lab. A couple of heads turn towards her in surprise, nodding in acknowledgement. The CEO of the company working in the labs is an extremely rare sight. She nods back at them, a small smile still dancing on her lips.

 

As Lena makes her way towards the back of the lab,  several researchers stop her and ask for her opinion on small details. Standing here in the lab, tinkering and helping, she can’t help but feel at home.

 

This is where she belongs.

 

She eventually makes her way to the back of the room. She turns down a hallway and unlocks a door on her right with her fingerprint and a passcode. Lena freezes as she steps into the room.

 

The light is already on.

 

She proceeds with caution, walking past the boxes of Lex’s research that she has yet to get rid of. When she gets to the middle of the room, she stops in confusion.

 

“What are you doing here?” Her voice comes out sharper than intended.

 

Jess turns away from the glass case containing her suit to look at her. “Ms. Luthor,” she says. She looks around the room, taking in the computers and the tables containing several pieces of lab equipment. “I admire the setup you have, but I think it would be best if you used a private server for these computers instead of piggybacking off of Luthor Corp’s network. Sorry, L-Corp,” she corrects.

 

Lena is still staring at her, slack jawed. “What are you doing here?” She repeats.

 

Jess stares back blankly. “I'm your assistant.”

 

Back when Lena was first enrolled in school, she went straight to a private school for kids with above average intelligence. Shortly after starting, everybody quickly realized that she was the smartest kid in her grade, possibly in her entire school. But for all her genius, Lena can not for the life of her understand why or how Jess came to be in this room with her. “Yes, but why are you here? How did you get in here?”

 

“As your assistant, I am here to assist.” She has the audacity to smile at her. “And, believe it or not, Ms. Luthor, I do care for you and would not want to see you get hurt while you go off and do…” she glances at the glass case again. “Whatever it is that you're planning to do.” She shrugs. “Plus, it's not that hard to get in here.”

 

“You need my fingerprint and a passcode. How did you even know about this room?”

 

“I saw you in the park yesterday.” Lena opens her mouth to deny, but Jess is shaking her head at her. “Before you deny anything, Ms. Luthor, I would like to remind you that I helped work on your gauntlets and boots and I saw the design for your suit.” Lena shuts her mouth. Jess had a point. It would take a complete idiot to not put two and two together. “I knew you would want to keep working on it and improving it, as well as keep it relatively close to you. You spend more time here than at home, so I figured it would be somewhere in this building. I know your office inside and out, there was no way you were hiding it there. I looked at the schematics of the building and this room was the only one unused, located in an “off limits” part of the building.” Jess suddenly looks sheepish. “Once I realized a fingerprint was required for entry, I lifted a fingerprint from your office.”

 

Despite having been discovered, Lena is impressed. She feels a small surge at warmth at Jess for going through all that trouble. Then she remembers something and feels cold. “And the passcode?” She asks, dreading the answer.

 

Jess looks away. “0812. August 12th. The day Lex was convicted.” She clears her throat and changes the topic. “I saw the way you handled that man yesterday. I guess the headband was useful after all.”

 

She nods curtly, too ashamed of her passcode to joke back. For all her talk about getting out from Lex’s shadow, she still misses him. He sends an assassin after her, yet she still loves him. She hates herself for it. She doesn't like how easily Jess figured out her passcode. Is she really that transparent?

 

It takes her a few seconds before she realizes Jess is looking at her with an odd expression. “What?” She asks.

 

Jess seems to be struggling with something. “I’m not sure how to phrase it…” She pauses, cocks her head as she appraises her. “If you don’t mind, Ms. Luthor…” She trails off again.

 

“Jess, please. I think you can call me Lena now,” Lena says, getting anxious at the look on Jess’s face.

 

“I don’t mean to offend, but...your family is notorious for anti-alien sentiment. How can they feel that way with you living with them? Did they not know about you?”

 

Lena stares blankly at her. Then it hits her. “Oh. I can see how you would think it, but I’m not an alien. I’m as human as they come. With some differences, obviously.” She lets out a small laugh of discomfort. She never discussed her powers before. She never discussed them with Lillian or Lionel, although they both knew about what she could do. The only person she had ever been truly open with was, of course, Lex.

 

* * *

 

_She was ten now. After the table incident years ago, Lex insisted they test her abilities. They kept discovering more and more powers. It was fun. At first._

 

_The more time went by, the more Lex pushed her._

 

_“Faster, Lena! I know you can go faster!” He says._

 

_“Lex, I’m tired and hungry. Can we rest for a little?” She stops running. Her body aches and her stomach is grumbling in protest. They realized years ago that she needs to consume more calories than normal for someone her age. Which made sense, given her abilities._

 

_Lex looks at his stopwatch. “A mile in four minutes. You’re slacking off.”_

 

_“I barely slept last night. You basically had me doing pull ups and lifting weights until the break of dawn.” She glares at him._

 

_“Lena, do you know what your powers could mean for humankind? Once we find out the extent of your powers, we can get started on trying to recreate them. We can save the world, Lena. Do you know how much good we can do?” He has an excited look in his eyes._

 

_“Can I just eat lunch in peace, Lex?” She asks._

 

_Lex nods absentmindedly, writing her data down on a clipboard._

 

_Lena opens up a bag near Lex. Inside she finds enough food to feed three people. She sits on the grass and starts eating as much as she can fit into her mouth. She groans in pleasure as the food enters her mouth. She’s mid-swallow when she feels a sharp sting on her neck. She turns in surprise and finds Lex holding up a syringe full of her blood. “Lex, what are you doing?”_

 

_“Your DNA is the key, Lena.”_

 

_She stands up, glaring at him. He’s completely focused on the blood, turning it over, looking at the way the sun glints off of the glass it’s encased in. Red hot fury suddenly courses through her. She slaps the syringe out of his hand, causing it to break as it hits the ground._

 

_Lex looks up at her. “Why did you do that?!” He yells._

 

_“You’re supposed to be helping me, Lex, not using me!”_

 

_He glances over to her neck, looking at where he inserted the syringe. He suddenly grabs her head and examines the wound closely. “You’re healing.”_

 

 _Lena ignores the news, pushing away from him. She misjudges her strength and Lex tumbles to the ground. “Listen to me, Lex! You are my brother. Big brothers_ protect _their younger siblings, not use them. You should be helping me control these powers, not just testing me. I haven’t eaten or slept right for months. If we carry on this way, I’ll be dead soon.”_

 

_Lex looks up at her, shock written all over his face. His eyes focus on her, truly seeing her, for the first time in months. He slowly rises to his feet and meets her eyes. “You’re right. You’re completely right, Lena. I’m sorry. I don’t know what got into me. I’ll be better. For you. I’ll protect you. Always. I promise.”_

 

* * *

 

“You’re human?” Jess asks, surprised. “Then how-?”

 

“When the Luthors adopted me, I fell ill. They did what they could to cure me. Whatever they did had a few side effects. To say the least,” Lena answers.

 

“Like flying, super strength, and super speed?”

 

“Amongst other things.”

 

Jess looks intrigued. “Do you have the same powers as Superman and Supergirl?”

 

Lena tries to recall all the research Lex did on Superman. She assumes Supergirl has the same powers. She looks at Jess thoughtfully, unsure if she should trust her fully yet. “To an extent, I believe.”

 

Her assistant glances around the room again. “How can I help?”

 

“What do you mean?” She asks, confused.

 

“Lena,” Jess says, testing out her boss’s first name. “I know you want to help this city. And I know you’re used to being independent and self-sufficient. But you don’t have to be alone. Not anymore.”

 

She debates whether or not to involve Jess. But the promise of having help is tempting. She walks over to a nearby computer, nodding at her. “Here’s what I have so far.”

 

Jess looks over her designs. “This is good. But what if we just change one small detail?”

 

As they fine-tune ideas well into the night, Lena can’t help but wonder if this is what it’s like to finally have a friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shoutout to @sten06 for editing!! Read her fics! Send her wine! Send her pics of Katie McGrath!
> 
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	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: The very beginning starts off with implications of child abuse. It will be just the italicized part and if you want to skip it, I'll give a brief summary of what happened at the end of chapter notes.

_It’s cold. It’s always cold._

 

_If it weren’t for the fire injected into her veins, she wouldn’t know what warmth feels like. All she knows is the cold and the fire._

 

_A door bangs open in the distance. Two sets of angry footsteps follow shortly after._

 

_She feels her heart quicken and her body stills in fear. The open door always brought pain._

 

_The footsteps enter the room. Blinding white light illuminates the room. It’s too bright; she can’t see. She can never see._

 

_The latch on her cage unlocks and she braces herself for the pain._

 

_“You can’t keep doing this to her!” A man’s voice cuts sharply through the silence, echoing throughout the room._

 

_“The work we are doing here is important. Don’t get too attached to the experiment. It is only a means to an end.” The response comes from a female voice colder than the room._

 

_“This is inhumane. We can’t keep doing this to her.” The voices are getting closer._

 

_A humorless laugh fills the room. “When did you grow a conscience?” The woman doesn’t wait for a response. “No matter. This-” Suddenly, she feels two hands grab her. She still can’t see. “This is not a person. This_ thing _does not have a soul. It mimics a human body, but it can’t_ feel _. That’s what makes this the perfect experiment. Imagine all that we can learn from it.”_

 

_She wishes she didn’t understand. She wishes the woman was right. She wishes she didn’t feel._

 

_But she understands too much, feels too much._

 

_“What we’re doing here is wrong. It’s time to stop.” The man sounds weary._

 

_“Stop? What good will that accomplish? What will become of the experiment?”_

_“We can raise her.”_

 

_The hands set her down on a metal table. “Are you listening to yourself? You want to give up all our progress for what?” She hears the rustling of papers nearby. “Look at the results from the latest injections. The regenerative cells are only in the primary phase. If we fine tune the formula, we will be able to cure incurable diseases.” She hears more shuffling. Her eyes are getting accustomed to the light. “The other tests are doing their job as well.” A pause. “We_ know _there are aliens. They are here and they have powers we can only imagine. We are powerless to stop them. But if we can replicate those abilities, if we can speed up the healing process, we can protect ourselves. We will no longer be easy prey.”_

 

_She can see outlines now, two figures standing across from each other. She hears the man sigh. “You’re right, of course. I don’t know what came over me.” The voice comes from the figure on the right. The man turns, looking away from where she lay. “We must continue.”_

 

_The figure on the left opens a box nearby, taking out a scalpel and a small syringe filled with liquid. The woman gets closer to her._

 

_Suddenly, she feels a sharp pain as the needle pierces her chest. She screams. The woman makes an annoyed noise. “I forgot it screamed.”_

 

_The man is still looking away._

 

_Her eyes finally adjust to the stark brightness. Lillian looms over her, scalpel in hand. “Let’s see if this regeneration formula works better.”_

 

_The blade slides along her skin and in her pain, she sees the man’s knuckles turning white as he grips the table, trying to ignore her screams._

 

* * *

 

Lena shoots up in bed, a strangled yell escaping her lips. Her hands fumble in the dark as she searches her nightstand for a pen and some paper. She’s had nightmares for as long as she can remember, but this is the first time she heard a conversation taking place.

 

When she was younger, the night terrors were too much. She couldn’t hold in the screams. Every night, she would wake up, her throat raw. Until the night that Lillian had enough.

 

Lillian had burst into her room, demanding to know why she made so much noise every night. She remembers trying to explain the sense of fear she felt, the ghost pain that plagued her for hours after waking up. But as soon as she wakes up, her dreams start to fade, leaving only a sense of unease in their wake.

 

_Don’t be ridiculous,_ Lillian had said. _They’re just dreams. You are a Luthor now. Behave like one. Nightmares are for the weak._

 

The next time a nightmare woke her up, she bit the inside of her cheeks so hard that she tasted blood. But she didn’t scream.

 

Lena gives up her search for paper in frustration. The dream is already fading, details long forgotten. Her heart's still racing, goosebumps cover her arms. She feels the fear creeping at the edges of her mind, a thin sheen of cold sweat covering her body. She closes her eyes and takes a couple of breaths, trying to calm down.

 

She forces her body to relax. Soon enough, her heart rate goes back to normal.

 

The alarm goes off and she swings her arms around in surprise, hitting the headboard and cracking it.

 

“Jesus christ,” she mutters, reaching over to turn off the alarm. She makes a mental note to buy another headboard.

 

Time to get ready for another day.

 

* * *

 

The sun feels nice on her skin when she steps out of her apartment complex. A cool breeze ruffles her hair.  Her chauffeur is waiting for her on the curb.

 

She glances towards the general direction of L-Corp. It's only a couple of blocks away and the weather is too delicious to pass up a chance to take a walk. She could even stop by Noonan's to grab coffee.

 

"It's such a lovely day out. I think I'll walk today. You can take the day off, Henry." Lena smiles at her driver.

 

Henry nods. "Yes, Ms. Luthor." He walks to the driver's side, but pauses before getting in the car. "Thank you, Ms. Luthor," he says.

 

She keeps smiling and bids him farewell before heading off towards L-Corp.

She’s about halfway to work when she starts to regret her decision. It's not that she minds walking, especially not when the weather is so nice. No, what Lena regrets is deciding to break in her new heels today.

 

She’s only walked for fifteen minutes, but the heel of her foot is killing her. She may be able to heal fast, but, unfortunately, she still feels pain.

 

She tries to keep her back straight and her pace steady. _Luthors mustn’t show weakness._ Lena grits her teeth as Lillian’s voice rings loud and clear in her head. She sets her shoulders and continues walking to her destination.

 

When Lena finally makes it to Noonan’s, she immediately heads over to a table. She just needs to sit down for a minute or two until the skin on the back of her ankles heal. Then she can grab her coffee, maybe some breakfast, and continue walking to work.

 

As she waits, she looks around the restaurant. People are slowly trickling in, but there's only a handful of people seated at tables. The emptiness of the restaurant brings her peace.

 

Lena closes her eyes and basks in the moment. She so rarely has a moment to herself these days. Suddenly, she hears a familiar heartbeat. She debates whether or not to turn around. Before she can decide, she hears the heartbeat speed up slightly. “Ms. Luthor?” Shock colors Kara’s voice.

 

Lena turns around and meets exquisite blue eyes. Eyes that she has definitely not daydreamed about.

 

“Ms. Danvers,” she acknowledges with a nod and a small smile.

 

“I didn’t know you came to Noonan’s.” Kara walks over to her table, an earnest smile on her face.

 

“I usually don’t come here myself, but today is a beautiful day. I decided to walk to work today and it was on the way. I love the coffee here.” Lena absentmindedly rubs her heel, feeling slight discomfort as she feels the skin heal itself.

 

Kara catches the movement, cocking her head, but otherwise not commenting on it. Lena stands up, the heels making her eye-level with Kara. “What will you have? My treat.”

 

Kara almost immediately starts protesting. “No, it’s okay, I can pay for myself. You don’t need to spend your money on me.”

 

As she walks to the register, Lena finds herself saying, “Let me take care of this one. You can pay next time.”

 

Lena still as they both register what she said. She can’t believe she just said that. She’s just met Kara, barely knows her. But for some inexplicable reason, she knows with absolute certainty that she wants to get to know her.

 

Out of curiosity, most likely. It probably had nothing to do with the way her heart raced whenever Kara was near or the warmth she felt spreading throughout her body when Kara smiled at her.

 

Kara grins at Lena. “Deal.”

 

They go up to the register. Lena orders a large salad and a black coffee, trying to keep her meal light. She doesn’t want to make Kara suspicious. Kara orders a small bag of donuts and a drink so sweet that Lena can practically feel the sugar two feet away.

 

When Kara takes a sip of the sugary drink and licks her lips to get rid of the whipped cream, Lena finds herself thinking that maybe there's no such thing as too much sugar.

 

Lena shakes off the thought. “I can’t believe you’re drinking that. Does it even have coffee?”

 

Kara sticks her tongue out in a childish display. Which Lena does not find adorable. At all. At least, that’s what she tells herself, smiling at Kara despite herself. “At least I don’t drink black coffee. Gross. And what is that? A salad? For breakfast? How dare you judge me when you’re eating like a rabbit.”

 

Lena rolls her eyes. “Oh, please. At least a rabbit doesn’t get cavities”. Bantering with Kara is easy. Almost as if they’ve known each other for years and they were just fallen into a familiar habit.

 

As they exit Noonan’s, Lena asks, “Are you off to CatCo?”

 

Kara pushes her glasses up her nose. “No, actually. I was heading towards my first interview.”

 

“Interview?” Lena hears Kara’s heart pick up speed again.

 

“I decided to become a reporter.” She smiles shyly at her.

 

How curious. “What changed your mind?”

 

“Oh, all sorts of things.” Kara’s heartbeat is a loud thump in her ears. “My cousin said I would be good, my friends encouraged me, and you mentioned something about me being a reporter.” She mumbles that last part so quietly that Lena almost misses it. Lena sees a very faint and miniscule blush coming out from Kara’s neck.

 

“Well, I’m glad you found something you’re passionate about. Who is your first interview with?”

 

Kara pushes up her glasses again. “You, actually.”

 

Lena tries to push down the weird feeling in the pit of her stomach at the thought of being Kara’s first. First interview, that is. “Well, in that case, would you like to accompany me to my building?”

 

“Don’t mind if I do, Ms. Luthor,” Kara says with a smile.

 

“Please, call me Lena,” she says, leading the way.

 

“Lena,” She tests out the name. Lena feels a fluttering in her stomach as she hears her name coming out of Kara’s lips. “In that case, you can call me Kara.”

 

“Well, Kara, what is this interview about?” She asks.

 

Kara shuffles around her bag while trying to balance her coffee, pulls out a small notepad, and shoves the bag of donuts inside. She flips it open to a page full of questions. “It’s about the top 25 most successful people in National City under 25. They’re still deciding what the order will be but, in my opinion, you should be number one.” Kara flashes a smile at her.

 

Lena returns her smile. “Very flattering, but I’m sure there are other people worthy of the title in the city. After all, I haven’t done much except inherit an infamous company and almost get killed.”

 

Kara blushes. “I meant, you’re just so young and have a lot of potential and anyone who has eyes can see how hard you’re working to make the company into a good one and you _survived_ two attempts on your life. That’s amazing and if that’s not enough to make you number one, then I am not in the right profession.”

 

Lena tries to push down the warmth she feels at Kara’s praise. They slow down as they reach L-Corp and Lena opens the door for Kara. As Kara passes in front of her, she tries very hard to look at the elevators, not at Kara’s retreating figure. “Well, I _am_ a Luthor, after all. If there’s not at least one attempt on my life per week, then am I really worthy of the name?”

 

Kara smiles awkwardly, not knowing how to respond. “On the bright side, you seem to have a knack for getting saved by superheroes,” She says, changing the topic.

 

“Ah, yes. Well, I don’t think that Superman and Supergirl were there to protect me. They probably think I tried to blow people up and it just went horribly wrong.” They step into the elevator and Lena pushes the button to go up to her floor. She takes a sip of her coffee.

 

The trademark crinkle appears on Kara’s forehead as she frowns. “I don’t think so. I think they both know that you are not your brother. I think Supergirl especially is eager to give you a chance.”

 

Lena holds back a smile. “She’s eager? Sounds like you know Supergirl intimately.”

 

Kara shifts, adjusting her grip on her notepad and her coffee. “Oh, uh, you know. CatCo branded her and I work at CatCo. So, I know her. Kind of. Not closely. Actually, scratch that. I don’t really know her. She exists on a totally different level than me. I’m just assuming that’s how she feels about you,” Kara blushes furiously, trying and failing to fidget with her glasses. Lena finds herself thinking about how adorable Kara was when she was flustered. “Speaking of heroes, what do you think about the mystery woman that people saw?”

 

The elevator dings and Lena steps as soon as the doors open, avoiding Kara’s gaze. “A woman?” she asks.

 

“I have a couple of reliable sources that claim they saw a woman in red and blue, flying around, helping save people. They say that this woman took Corben. He was later found, tied up like a present near 54th and Main.” Kara tries to catch her eye, but Lena is determinately looking away.

 

“I thought those were just rumors,” she says carefully.

 

Before Kara can answer, they reach Jess’s desk. “Is this reporter bothering you, Ms.Lu- Lena?” Jess asks, still not used to calling Lena by her first name.

 

“No, Jess. She’s just here for a short interview.”

 

“You have a meeting with the Board today in half an hour,” she states, still looking at Kara with a certain distaste that makes it clear she does not approve of a reporter getting so close to Lena. Kara bites her bottom lip nervously, clearly uncomfortable being under Jess’s scrutiny.

 

Lena notices the movement, her eyes locked onto Kara’s bottom lip. “Tell them I need to reschedule,” she says without looking at Jess’s reaction.

 

“You want to reschedule on the Board of Directors?” Jess asks in disbelief. Kara looks surprised.

 

Lena nods. “Yes. Also, Ms. Danvers has unrestricted access to my office. She is to be shown in whenever she wishes.” She turns to Jess, trying to hide her amusement as she takes in her assistant’s face.

 

“Yes, ma’am.” Jess nods, typing away at her iPad.

 

“We can continue this in my office, Kara.” She turns and walks in front of Kara, making sure her hips are swaying.

 

When the door closes behind Kara, Lena turns to her. “So, this rumored mystery woman? What else do you know about her?”

 

Kara holds her gaze. “I don’t think she is a rumor. She saved people. She turned Corben in to the police. She’s a hero.”

 

A Super calling a Luthor a hero? Iconic. “Do you think she knows Supergirl?” Lena asks, watching Kara’s reaction carefully. “Or Superman,” she adds as an afterthought, heading towards her couch. She sits, setting down her coffee and salad on the table in front of her.

 

“No way,” Kara says almost immediately, sitting down next to her. She drops her bag on the floor, adjusting her notepad on her thighs as she turns to Lena. She takes a sip of her coffee.

 

Lena raises an eyebrow. “And you know this for a fact?”

 

Kara chokes on her coffee. “Oh, well, I mean, she doesn’t have the emblem, so I’m just making another educated guess here. Plus, her outfit was all wrong. A red top with a blue skirt? What type of fashion statement is that?” She gives an awkward chuckle, fidgeting with the pages of the notepad. Lena notices she doesn’t have a pen.

 

“You’re drawing conclusions based on her fashion sense?” Lena asks with a laugh. She reaches over and opens her salad. She hides her distaste. She’s going to need a bigger lunch to make up for the lack of calories in the salad. “I think it’s a nice suit. Although, you’re right about the absence of the S.”

 

Kara wrinkles her nose, not hiding her disgust at Lena’s salad. “I don’t think the emblem is an S. It kind of looks like a family crest to me.”

 

Lena’s face betrays her surprise. That wasn’t in Lex’s notes. “A family crest?”

 

Kara’s eyes hold a soft vulnerability as she meets Lena’s eyes. “Yeah.” She clears her throat, putting her walls back up. “But anyways. Cat Grant doesn’t think she’s a Super either. She wants to give this mystery woman a name. She just doesn’t know what name yet.

 

A name? Lena hadn’t even thought of that. Before she can comment on it, Kara stands up suddenly, her eyes focused on something in the distance. Her head cocks to the side as if listening intently to something. Lena tries to listen as well. She hears a small voice in Kara’s ear, telling her she needs to leave now. There’s a fire on a few blocks down from her building.

 

Lena mentally berates herself for not noticing the comm speaker in Kara’s ear earlier. She wonders if whoever is on the other side of the earpiece could hear everything they had been discussing.

 

“Lena, I am so sorry, I just realized I have to go to do a thing right now and I’m late for it so if you would just excuse me, maybe we can talk later?” Kara says, shoving her notebook into her bag.

 

“Yes, of course, don’t worry about it.” On an impulse, Lena writes down her number on the corner of a magazine cover and tears it off, handing it to Kara. “Let me know whenever you want to meet.”

 

Kara flashes a smile at her before rushing out of the office. Lena waits a beat before exiting as well. “Jess, I will be busy for a while. Please make sure nobody goes in to my office.” Kara is nowhere to be found and Lena assumes she used the stairs to get to the roof. She curses herself for leaving her suit in the basement. She heads back into her office.

 

She hears Jess call out her name, but doesn’t turn back. She walks out onto her newly constructed balcony and, after making sure there was nobody on the street near her building, she jumps out, using her powers to cushion her fall. She reaches the ground and takes off running towards the direction of the back doors to her labs. She forces the door open and finds the lab completely empty. She makes a mental note to be slightly stricter on employees showing up on time to work. She opens the door to the room with her suit open and then she uses her superspeed to change. She needs a better place to put her suit. Once changed, she bursts back out through the back doors of the lab, taking off into the air as soon as possible.

 

She knows she should be following the sound of the fire, but she can’t help but head towards the sound of an already familiar racing Kryptonian heartbeat. Within seconds, she is hovering above a thirty-story building on fire. She uses her super vision to see Kara flying in and out of the building, trying to take out as many people as she possibly can. Lena smiles fondly at her hero. At the hero, she corrects herself. Supergirl isn’t hers.

 

Lena snaps out of her reverie, remembering there was a literal building on fire. Too gay to function can be fatal to heroes, she reminds herself. Kara brings out the last couple of people from the building. Before Kara can turn to use her freeze breath, Lena starts blowing out the fire. She didn’t have freeze breath, per say, but she did have what she so cleverly called super breath. Regular breath, just magnified, kind of like how she could zoom in on her vision to focus on faraway objects. It was quite useless when she was younger, only having figured it out when she blew on a candle she lit on a cupcake for herself when she turned 13. There were cupcake bits everywhere and she never used it again. Until now.

 

It took about fifteen seconds, maybe five more seconds than it would’ve taken Kara, but it got the job done. She could sense Kara gaining her bearings and start to head towards her. As soon as the fire is out, Lena flies away.

 

She passes a reflective building and speeds up when she sees Supergirl following her. When Lena speeds up, so does Supergirl.

 

_Oh. This is going to be fun._

 

Lena flies faster than she’s used to, feeling adrenaline kick in. She zips past buildings, trying to gauge Kara’s flying skills compared to hers. Kara is slowly gaining on her, but, Lena notices, she has trouble turning corners.

 

Which, of course, gives Lena an idea. She turns sharply, heading past Supergirl while flashing a quick smile. She loops around until she finds one of the buildings she knows is set for demolition. A quick examination shows her that there is nobody inside the building. She picks up speed, swallowing her nerves. This is probably the fastest she’s flown. Lex would have been proud. Her Lex would have been proud. Not the Lex that tried to commit genocide.

 

She shakes off the memories to risk quick glance at the hero behind her. Kara is at a perfect distance, about two feet behind her. Lena looks back at the quickly approaching building and, when she’s about five feet away, she turns sharply to the left.

 

She knows her plan worked when she hears a thunderous crash behind her. Lena turns to see a gaping hole in the side of the building. She watches Kara stand in the hole she made in a daze. She uses her vision to make sure that Kara is unharmed. Satisfied that there isn’t a single scratch on the Kryptonian, Lena flies away.

 

She makes some unnecessary loops around the city, making sure that Supergirl hasn’t followed her, and then heads towards her office.

 

She lands on her constructed balcony and waltzes inside, the adrenaline making her feel exhilarated.

 

Lena walks in to her office to find Jess leaning on her desk, the television on, playing the news. The table in front of her is full of enough food to feed a small family. Or, in her case, a single, super-powered human that hasn’t had a proper meal all day. Once the smell of the food reaches her nose, Lena loses all train of thought.

 

She walks straight to the couch, sitting down and debating over whether to start stuffing her face with the large Hawaiian pizza or one of the Big Belly burgers sitting next to it. She decides on the latter. Lena takes a huge bite, moaning as the favor explodes in her mouth. She turns to Jess to thank her, but stops when she sees her face.

 

Jess is looking at the TV with a disapproving look on her face. Lena follows her line of sight. The news station is playing a grainy video of Supergirl crashing into the building. The camera then shifts focus to Lena hovering for a few seconds before zooming off.

 

“You made Supergirl crash into a building,” Jess accuses.

 

At least Jess seems more comfortable around her now. Lena takes another bite before answering. “Technically, she crashed all by herself.”

 

Jess sighs while pulling out her tablet. “I rescheduled your board meeting for later this evening. It’s a phone conference this time, since many of the board members are going out of town.”

 

“You’re a life saver. I don’t know what I would do without you.” Lena finishes her burger and moves on to the pizza. “So, I’m thinking,” she says in between bites. “I kind of want to keep my identity a secret. But I don’t really want to wear a mask. I feel like it’s too restricting. Plus, people have already seen me without a mask. It would be weird if I suddenly showed up in one.”

 

“You’re extremely lucky nobody has gotten a good look at your face.” Jess pauses, noticing Lena’s progress with the food. “Would you like me to order some more food?”

 

Lena shakes her head, taking a bite of her third slice of pizza. “I could create software that distorts my face. Maybe create some type of illusion to change my facial features just enough that nobody will recognize me. I could install the software on this headband, in fact.”

 

Jess nods in agreement. “You should get dressed soon. You have another appointment in half an hour.”

 

“Speaking of which,” Lena closes the pizza box and grabs another burger. “I need to figure out a way to make this suit accessible. In fact, the whole room we have downstairs is kind of useless at this point. It takes too long to go down there. How long would it take to build a secret room in here?”

 

“Can I be blunt, Lena?” Jess puts her tablet away. Lena signals for her to go on. “That whole room you had down there…it was just extra. What were you expecting to do? Hide away in the room all day, finding crimes to stop? I can install any software you had on those computers unto my computer in my desk outside. We can figure out a way to compress the suit the way the way we compressed the boots and gauntlets. That way you don’t have to wear it under your clothes.”

 

Lena sits back on the couch, sighing contentedly now that she’s eaten. Then Jess’s words register, and she sits back up, looking at her. “I mean, I don’t know, I thought I could,” Lena’s at a loss for words. “Extra?”

 

“It was extra. And at the risk of being even more blunt, you’re kind of always extra. You made Supergirl crash into a building.” Jess unsuccessfully tries to hide a teasing smile. Then she gets serious. “Why are you doing this?”

 

Lena straightens up. “Why put our lives completely in the hands of aliens?” Lex’s voice rings in her ears. This was the line he fed her as he encouraged all her heroics back in college.

 

Jess searches her face. “Are those your words or your family’s?”

 

She stands up. “I should probably get ready for my next meeting,” Lena says, dismissing her.

 

“Yes, ma’am.” Jess’s voice has an underlying mocking tone that Lena chooses to ignore as she turns away, facing her balcony. When she hears the door shut behind her, Lena lets out a breath. She walks out to the ledge and rests her arms on the railing. Before she can relax, she hears a pair of boots land behind her.

 

“I knew it,” Kara breathes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary of Lena's dream: Lena has a weird dream where she's on a table and two figures are looming over her, talking about some type of experiment. The man appears to want to quit, but the woman eggs him on. It is later revealed in the dream that the woman is Lillian.


End file.
